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Mood hoovers, mountains, heretics and changing the world!

The world is full of mood hoovers – you know those people who say you can’t, or you shouldn’t, or don’t see the point or even those who say but this is the way we have always done it ! It’s frustrating at times and being resilient and staying positive in the presence of mood hoovers is bloomin trcky !! So what do we do ? Do we avoid them ? Its pretty difficult to as they are literally everywhere ! So do we ignore them ? Well thats good to a certain extent but it can get you down at times ….

One of the great things about social media and in particular Twitter is the ability to connect and meet people who you would never normally meet. The informal support networks that are developed from 140 character conversations can be very powerful indeed. Twitter for me is the antidote to the Mood Hoovers. Having written and shared my last blog Next Opportunity – A lesson in resilience I was reminded of the support that connecting in 140 characters can offer. I shared my blog around the problems and frustrations of promoting and driving the importance of doing social media well and I received a reminder of the fact that I am not on this journey alone and shared this conversation with the lovely @wlasinclair:

This conversation was hugely important, it may have seemed a little frivolous and light hearted but it served a massive purpose – it was a conversation that reminded me that I was not alone, and that there were others climbing this mountain too. In a Slideshare by Helen Bevan she asks “How does it feel to be a heretic / rebel / radical / maverick?” and answers with this picture:

And this is how it can feel driving new things and new ways of doing things .. like a lone voice. Further on in the Slideshare Helen talks about the importance of building alliances .. for me Twitter is vital for this. Building relationships and gaining support from others is no longer a local thing, support and alliances can come from anywhere thanks to the global platform that is Twitter. Those who think that they can change the world are finding support and enthusiasm and this is a great way to build resilience against those hoovers of mood.

There are many of us climbing this mountain and it’s great to have company on such a huge hike. There are times when some of us flag and there are even times when some of us fall, and some of us are pushed down by those dratted mood hoovers… However connecting via Twitter has ensured that there is always someone there to pick us up or help us along. So having said in my last blog that it’s time to be resilient and move on to the next opportunity I am now confident that whatever the future holds we are climbing this mountain together … And I a reliably informed that there is cake and fizz at the top